Grain-cutting machine.



J J. MACE.

GRAIN CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION'FILED on. 14, 1914. RENEWED MAR. H, 1916.

1,188,464. PatentedJune 27, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

'J. J-MACE.

GRAIN cunme MACHINE.

:APPIJCATION FILED 001314. I914- RENEWED MAR. ll. 191 6.

1,1 88,464. I Patented June 27,1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 nected to the plates JOHN J. MAGEOF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

GRAIN- CUTTING 'MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 27, 1916.

Application filed October 14, 1914, Serial No. 866,634. Renewed March 11, 1916. Serial No.83,688.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN J. MACE, a citizen of the United States, residing at York, county of York, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain-Cutting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to grain cutting machines and more particularly to a machine for cutting 'corn, wheat and similar grain into two and three parts to provide feed for poultry.

Machines for cracking corn usually crush it so fine and small that it amounts to little as feed and it is one of the objects of this invention to provide a machine which will cut or shear the corn and other grain and leave the heart thereof intact so as to prevent making fine meal and crushing the grain.

Another object of the invention is to provide a simple structure with few parts which will not get out of order.

The above and other objects and the novel features of the invention will be apparent from the following description, taken in connection with the drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same; Fig. 3 is an interior view of the machine; Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the machine taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a detail view ofthe cutting members adjacent the point where they pass one another.

Referring to the drawings, the casing of the machine comprises two castings which fit together to inclose the cutting members and support thereon a cast iron hopper 10. Referring to Fig. 3, one of the castings comprising the casing of the machine consists of a plate 11 which. forms one side wall ofthe casing and two plates 12 and 13 integrally joined to the plate 11 to form the end walls of the casing. A plate 14 integrally con- 11 and 13 and extending at an angle across the inner face of the plate 11 constitutes the bottom wall of the casing and being inclined downwardly also forms a chute to discharge the material from the interior .of the casing. The end wall 12 terminates short of the bottom of the casing leaving an opening 15 through which the material may pass, the wall 14 extending through the opening 15 and beyondv the plane of the wall 12 forming a lip 16 outside the discharge opening at the'lower end of the casing. Flanges 17 and 18 are formed on the interior side of the end walls 12 and 13 to provide supporting surfaces for the hopper 10, the discharge opening of which registers with an inlet opening 19 in the top of the casing. v

QAn au'xiliary' hopper is formed on the in teri'or of the 'casing by the two deflecting plates20 and 21 which are cast integral with the side wall ll'of the casing and are in -clined toward one another and leave the space 22 between them which constitutes the discharge opening of the auxiliary hopper. ;The lateral extensions 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 20 and 21 on the side wall 11 are of the same width and extend across the interior of the casing and inclose within them a compartment which contains the two cooperating circular cutting members 23 and 24. A cover plate 25 closes the compartment on the side opposite the side 11 and constitutes the other side wall of the casing, the two castings being secured together'by suitable bolts or screws. Both castings also'are provided with feet 26 at their lower edges on the outer sides thereof whereby they may be fastened to a table or other support.

The wall 11 has two openings therein surrounded by the bosses 27 and 28 and the wall 25 has two similar openings surrounded by the bosses 29 and 30. The bosses are ar-' ranged on the exterior sides of the walls and integral therewith. The pair of bosses 27 and 29 provide bearings for the shaft 31 which carries the cutting member 24 and the pair ofbosses 28 and similarly provide bearings for the shaft 32 which carries the cutting member 23. The cutting members are each secured to the shaft by a key 33 as shown in Fig. 4, which key fits in a concave slot 34 inthe shaft 31 and in a keyway 35 in the cutting member. The end of the key '33 is. flattened and the partsv are so cut that the flattened end of the key will abut against the inner side of the wall. 11 as at 36, thus locking the shafts 31 and 32 against endwise motion toward the right as will be understood from aninspection of Fig. 4.

The shafts-31 and 32 project outwardly beyond the ends of the bosses 27'and 28 and their projecting ends respectively carry the gear wheels 37 and 38 which mesh. Each of the gear wheels 37 and 38 is provided with a projecting hub, 39 and 40, and a pin 41 extends through each of the hubs and through the shaft on which it is mounted to secure the gear wheels 37 and 38 to their respective shafts 31 and 32. The shafts and the parts carried thereby are thus .locked against lateral motion in either direction by the pins 41 and the keys 33, whereby collars and similar devices for accomplishing this same purpose are dispensed with and the number of parts of the machine reduced. The shaft 31 extends beyond the hub 39 a short distanceso that a drive wheel 42 may be secured thereto. In a power driven machine a pulley may be mounted on the end of the shaft 31. The wheel 42 is provided with the usual handle 43 for driving the same.

The cutting or shearing members 23 and 24: are substantially similar in construction and each consists of a solid circular disk having a thickness practically equal to the width of the interior ofthe casing, that is between the walls 11 and 25 so that material will not enter between the cutting disk and the walls of the casing to retard the operation of the machine. The peripheral surfaces of the cutting members are provided with transverse parallel grooves 4% throughout. The grooves 45L have concave'or rounded bottoms and are located be tween V-shaped sharp cutting or shearing teeth 45. The grooves and cuttingteeth extend entirely across the faces of the cutting members and the members coeperate in the manner shown more clearly in Fig. 5.

As the grain such as corn, for instance,

passes down through the discharge opening 22 the auxiliary hopper it falls into the space bet-ween the cutting members 23 and 24 which are revolving in the direction indicated by the arrows. The kernels are caught between the teeth 45 disposed substantially opposite each other on the cutting members 23 and 24L and as the cutting members continue their rotation the coeperating teeth acting like a pair of'shears cut an ordinary sized kernel into two parts. For radically different sized grain the size of the teeth and the grooves will of course be changed. The cutting members are so adjusted that certain of the teeth, the pair of teeth 4151 and 452 located respectively on the cutting m .embers 23 and ,24: and on a line connecting the centers of the latter,

will only slightly overlap when passing as By this arrangement spaces will be left between the cooperating cutting members to receive the pieces of grai cut thereby preventing them from being crushed. For instance in Fig. 5 as the cooperating teeth above the pair of teeth 451, 452 close on a kernel, part of the kernel will drop into the space on one side and part of thelkernel will drop into the space 48 on the opposite side, and as the teeth only slightly overlap in passing there will be .sufficient space :to

observed that the gear 37 and cutter 24: are I .the driven members and that the cutter 23 is positively driven through the gear 38 by the gear 37 and doesnot depend on the cutting member 2& for its drive. However, the cutting teeth on the member 24 overlap the cutting teeth on ,the member 23 and therefore the positively driven cutter will exert driving action on the idle cutter.

I have found that there is occasionally a tendency for the kernels to clog'the cutters Where they enter between the teeth, because it sometimes happens that the kernels fall inbetween the teeth two or three thick and jam the cutters. In order to prevent such clogging of the machine I provide the rod e9 which is located in the space between the discharge opening22 from the auxiliary hopper and the entrance to the space be tween the cutters. The rode?) issecured to the side walls 11 nut 50 and serves to separate the kernels and retard their movement into the space between the cutting members.

The machin e described cuts grain without crushing it thus preventing considerable waste and providing a food which is much more suitable. for poultry. The operation oft1 1e machineivill be apparent from .the foregoing description and it will be seen that it is 1 simple in construction and operation.

' [While I have described the machine in detail, it isto be understood thatI do not wish ,to be limited to the exact structure hown as various changes within the spirit of the invention may be made. i

' Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Let- ;tersPatent is:

"l. a grain cutting machine, a pair of substantially similar cooperating cutting members provided with V-sha ped cutting teeth o n Qtheir peripheral surfaces, and

grooves" between the' teeth having rounded tb'ottcms, themembersbeing adjusted so that certain of the teeth thereof will coeperate to shear the grains and onlyslightly overlap so that spaces will be left between the coeperating member'sto receive the pieces of grain and prevent the crushing of the same and25 by means of a ed to shear grains and havingalength substantially equal the distance between said side walls, deflecting means above the cutting members and capable of leading grain to the space between the cutting members, and a chute below the cutting members, and constituting the bottom of said casing, said casing having a discharge outlet therein near the lower end of said chute.

3. In a machine of the class described, th combination of cooperating members, and a supporting and inclosing casing for said members comprising a side wall having its lower end disposed above the bottom of the casing, and an inclined wall extending under and spaced a distance from the lower end of said side wall whereby an outlet spout for said casing is provided near the lower end of said inclined wall.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a pair of cooperating grain dividing members, a casing for said members comprising two castings forming the sides of the casing, an inclined wall integral with one of said castlngs and constituting the bottom of said casing and providing a chute for grain, one of said side walls having a discharge opening therein above a part near the lower end of said inclined wall.

5. In a grain cutting machine, the combination of a casing, a shaft rotatably mounted in a bearing in a wall of said casing, a

cutting device in the casing and mounted on said shaft, a key between said cutting device and shaft and locking the shaft against movement longitudinally in one direction, a wheel on the outer side of said casing and mounted on said shaft, and means for pre- Oopies 0! this patent may be obtained for venting the movement of said wheel longitudinally of the shaft and thereby preventing any motion of the shaft in the opposite direction, whereby end motion of the shaft in either direction is prevented. v

6. In a grain cutting machine, the combination of a casing, a pair of cooperating toothed cutting members located in the casing, said cutters having their axes located in different horizontal planes, the teeth of one of said cutters only slightly overlapping the teeth of the other cutter and cooperating therewith to shear the grains, means for directly driving the cutter having the overlapping teeth, and gearing connecting the directly driven cutter and the other cutter.

7. In a grain cutting machine, the combination of a casing having substantially parallel side walls, and a pair of substantially similar cooperating cutting members inside said casing and extending from one side wall to the opposite side wall, each of said members having cutting teeth thereon and concave grooves between the teeth, said members being so adjusted that the teeth only slightly overlap so as to shear the grains and leave sufficient space between the cooperating teeth and members where the members most closely approach each other to prevent a crushing action on the grains, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN J. MACE.

WVitnesses:

V. K. KEEsnY, MABEL EVANS.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patentl,

Washington, D. C. 

